The evolution of hand knitting
The term knitting describes the technique of constructing textile structures by forming a continuous length of yarn into columns of vertically intermeshed loops. It relies heavily on the availability of fine, strong, uniformly spun yarn. The term 'knitting' dates from the mid-sixteenth century, earlier words such as the Saxon 'cnyttan' and the Sanskrit 'nahyat' being less precise, indicating that knitting probably evolved from sources such as the experience gained by knotting and Coptic...
The multiplegauge technique
Sophisticated fashion tastes have, on occasion, required knitwear garments containing zones of both coarse and fine gauge stitches - which can now achieved on one machine using 'multiple gauges'. This involves a combination of techniques, including half-gauging, using different numbers of yarn ends, intarsia zoning, and blocks of different gauges of needles each working with its corresponding count of yarn and yarn carrier Fig. 19.6 . Stoll have a multi-gauge range The '5.2' with 6-gauge needle...
Plush Socks Sinkers
Single-sided plated plush or terry is a popular leisurewear and sportswear structure that has the form-fitting properties of single jersey and is used in both fabric and sock form. The elongated plush sinker loops are formed over a higher knock-over surface than the normal-length ground sinker loops with which they are plated Fig. 14.4 . The plush sinker loops show as a pile between the wales on the technical back of the fabric. Henkel plush or velour is achieved during finishing, by cropping...
Further information Ceh
anon., Fifty years of circular sweater-strip machinery, Knit. O'wr Times Yr. Bk., 1968 , 231-6. goadby, d., Where next with garment making machines Knit. Int., 1978 , Sept., 79-82. innes, r., Garment length key is move to all-electronic, Knit. Int., Dec. 1987 , 58-60. Lancashire, j. b., Garment making interlock machines, Hos. Trade J, 1955 , Nov., 62-4. Lancashire, j. b., Sweater knitting on superimposed cylinder machines, Knit. Times, 1973 , 17 July, 49-51. reichman, c., Merits of the circular...
The early development of ladies finegauge hosiery machines
Circular machinery entered hosiery production inauspiciously during the nineteenth century, knitting fabric that was then cut and seamed into cheap 'leg bags', onto which heels, soles and toes were later hand-frame knitted. The development of specifically designed circular hose machines followed from patents such as those of Newton in 1857 and McNary in 1860. These described how seamless heel and toe pouches could be knitted as part of the tubular leg structure by selectively taking needles in...
Marquisette and voile
Marquisette and voile curtain nets, which are both named after woven constructions, are produced with fully-threaded guide bars the front of which makes a pillar stitch Figures 28.10 and 28.11 . Heavier, stronger, but more expensive meshes are made when two inlay bars lap to different extents in opposition to each other Fig. 28.10 . Marquisette has a square mesh Fig. 28.10 whereas voile Fig. 28.11 tends to show diagonal inlays.
Elasticised fabrics
Elasticised fabrics have long been used for corsetry, foundation garments, and swimwear, but the introduction of fine-diameter elastane yarns whose elastic exten- sibility and recovery can be 'engineered' to particular requirements has extended the use of these structures into lingerie and active sports and leisure wear. Elasti-cised fabrics are knitted on high-speed raschel and tricot machines as well as in patterned form on multi guide bar lace machines. The main prerequisites of these...
Construction of warp knitted fabrics
In a warp knitted structure, all ends supplied from the same warp sheet normally have identical lapping movements because each is lapped by a guide attached to the same guide bar Fig. 23.1 . Beams Fig. 23.2 supply the warp sheets in parallel form to the guide bars, whose pattern control determines the timing and configuration of the lapping movements in the form of overlaps and underlaps. The needles intermesh the new overlaps through the old overlaps to form the intermeshed loop structure....
Further information Ahq
anon., New technology and patents in hosiery, Knit. Int., 1996 , May, 33-6. anon., Hosiery International IHE Charlotte, Knit. Int., 1996 , June, 21-9. anon., FAST Preview, Knit. Int., 1998 , May, 17-41. anon., Hosiery International, Knit. Int., 1997 , April, 30-55. anon., Hosiery International, Knit. Int., 1998 , May, 17-40. anon.,Toe closure, Sangiacomo Lin-Toe , Knit. Int., 1996 , Aug., 42-4. bauER, h. j., Developments in single-cylinder sock technology, Knit. Tech., 1995 , July, 210-16....
The intermeshing points of a needle loop
All needle loops or overlaps have four possible intermeshing points Fig. 5.6 -1 and 2 at the head, where the next new loop will be drawn through by the needle, and 3 and 4 at the base, where the loop has intermeshed with the head of the previously formed loop. The intermeshings at 1 and 2 are always identical with each other as are intermeshings 3 and 4 with each other. It is impossible to draw a new loop through the old loop so that its two feet are alternately intermeshed Fig. 5.7 . This...
Single or doubleneedle overlaps
Overlap movements are normally across only one needle space because two-needle overlaps cause both the warp thread and the needles to be subjected to the severe Fig. 23.4 Warp knitting lapping and chain notation. Fig. 23.4 Warp knitting lapping and chain notation. strain of two simultaneous adjacent knock-over actions. In addition, different tensions on the two loops in the structure adversely affect their appearance. The under-lap between the double overlaps has the appearance of a sinker...
Anon. Successful Simplex Raschel Machines Kettenwirk-praxis 4 98 E 5 6.
1. anon., Successful Simplex raschel machines, Kettenwirk-Praxis, 4 98, E 5,6. 2. anon., Simplex and ultrafine spacer fabrics, Kettenwirk-Praxis, 2 99, E 8,9. 3. heide, m., Spacer fabrics for medical applications, Kettenwirk-Praxis, 4 98, E 15-19. 4. wHeatley, b., Processing of polyolefin tapes on Raschel knitting machines, Knit. Times, 1973 , 16 April, 188-95. 5. dATUNgTON, k. d., Uses of polyolefins in Raschel, Knit. Times, 1975 , 25 Aug., 12-17. 6. gibbon, J., In the days of green green...
References Owa
1. anon.,Techtextil Review, Knit. Int., 1999 , June 17-19. 2. anon., Warp Knitted textiles for car interiors, Kettenwirk-Praxis, 4 94, E 17-20. 3. rigby, a., anand, s. and miraftAB, m., Medical Textiles, Knit., Int., 1994 , Feb., 39-42. 4. anon.,Technical Textiles-Warp Knitted, KettenWirk-Praxis, 3 99, E 15,16. 5. Welbeck Technical Textiles, England . 6. rankilor, p. r. and raz, s.,The Karl Mayer Guide to Geotextiles, 1989 . 7. anon., Knitting in detail, Knitting Tech., 1 2000, 20, 21. 8....
Electronic needle selection
Electro-magnetic needle selection is now available on many types of knitting machines this was first commercially used on circular rib jacquard machines Fig. 11.11 . The electronic impulse that energises an electromagnet is usually assisted by the field of a permanent magnet, and the minute selection movement is then magnified by mechanical means. If all the needles, or a block of needles, were to be simultaneously selected, each would require its own actuator. It is much cheaper to select the...
Stitch cam settings
The stitch cams are located in slots by studs and they may be raised or lowered to a different setting position by moving the stud along the slot Fig. 18.3 . Unless the rate of yarn feed is controlled, the setting of the stitch cam at knock-over will determine the stitch length because it controls the distance the head of the needle descends below the knock-over bit edge from the rest position. The alternating stitch cam settings are indicated by pointers on a calibrated scale on the outside of...
The Shima Seiki electronic selection system
Figure 19.2 illustrates the front F and back bed B cam systems of a Shima Seiki two knitting system model SEC. It is indicated that the cam carriage is traversing Fig. 19.1 Mechanical jacquard selection on a V-bed flat machine. Fig. 19.1 Mechanical jacquard selection on a V-bed flat machine. from right-to-left so that the butts of the knitting elements enter from the left, passing through four systems 1 From the left, the first system is transferring loops from the back bed to the front bed....
Raschel mesh structures
Mesh structures may be used alone or as the ground for designs produced by pattern bars Chapter 27 . The three main raschel lace gauges are 28-gauge E 14 , which is coarse gauge Fig. 28.6 and is mainly used for dress-wear with the designs being emphasised by heavy outline threads 36-gauge E 18 which is the standard gauge Fig. 28.7 and 48 gauge E 24 which is fine gauge, provides better definition in designs, and is also used for lace edgings, etc. Fig. 28.8 . Three-course tulle is the standard...
The held loop
A held loop Fig. 9.1 is an old loop that the needle has retained. It is not released and knocked-over until the next, or a later, yarn feed. A held loop can only be retained by a needle for a limited number of knitting cycles before it is cast-off. A new loop is then drawn through it, otherwise the tension on the yarn in the held loop becomes excessive even though there is a tendency to rob yarn from adjacent loops in the same course. Fig. 9.1 Float stitch produced on a latch needle machine....
The doublecylinder garmentlength machine
Spiers produced a successful machine of this type in 1930, termed the Spensa Purl machine. It has a revolving cylinder and internal sinkers and is capable of knitting garment-lengths with a tubular welt and rib border. In 1956, Wildt Mellor Bromley replaced it with the model SPJ, which has an anti-clockwise revolving cam-box, no dividing cams or internal sinkers, and sliders with pointed noses for opening the latches of needles knitting in the opposite cylinder. As well as being mechanically...
The knitted stitch
The knitted stitch is the basic unit of intermeshing. It usually consists of three or more intermeshed needle loops Fig. 5.6 . The centre loop has been drawn through the head of the lower previously-formed loop and is, in turn, intermeshed through its head by the loop above it. The repeat unit of a stitch is the minimum repeat of intermeshed loops that can be placed adjoining other repeat units in order to build up an unbroken sequence in width and depth. A needle loop only has its...
Singlecylinder sock machines
Mechanically-controlled double-cylinder machines of the Bentley Komet type used to dominate the manufacture of socks but, with the encroachment of microprocessor controls, the simpler and cheaper single-cylinder machines now account for two thirds of new machinery sales. Factors influencing this trend include Greater pattern scope at increased speeds using mono-magnetic needle selection. More colours per course when using motif embroidery plating, with up to 7 colours per course or a total of...
Further information Hue
paling, D. F., Warp Knitting Technology, 1965 , Columbine Press, Manchester, UK. raz, s., Warp Knitting Production, 1987 , Melliand, D6900 Heidelberg, Germany, ISBN 3-87529-022-4. reisfeld, a., Warp Knit Engineering, 1966 , Nat. Knit. O'wr. Ass., New York, USA. reisfeld, a., Warp knit fabrics and products, Knit. Times, 1969 , Part 6, 24 Feb., 35-47 part 8, 21 July, 75-82. thomas, D. G. B., Introduction to Warp Knitting, 1976 , Merrow Technical Library. weber, K. p., Warp knitting technology,...
The needle loop
The needle loop H L in Fig. 5.1 is the basic unit of knitted structure.When tension in the fabric is balanced and there is sufficient take-away tension during knitting, it is an upright noose formed in the needle hook. It consists of a head H and two side limbs or legs L . At the base of each leg is a foot F , which meshes through the head of the loop formed at the previous knitting cycle, usually by that needle. The yarn passes from the foot of one loop into the foot and leg of the next loop...
Power flat machines
The basic principles of V-bed flat knitting have already been outlined in Chapter 18. The main difference between the simple hand-controlled flat and the automatic power flat is that the latter can be programmed to automatically knit a garment length sequence with little or no further human intervention. The term flat bar or power flat has been retained as the generic name for both rib and purl flat machines. Both types originally were designed to knit garment-length blanks of constant width...
Different butt positions
The principle of different butt positions is employed in the interlock cam system, where two cam tracks are used Section 7.4.2 . In single-jersey multi-camtrack raceway machines, needle butts may be positioned in one of between 2 and 5 cam tracks that, at every feed position, have fixed but exchangeable knitting, tucking or missing cams. In some machines e.g. jacquard machines , a common top butt is controlled by a stitch cam-track, whereas in high-speed machines the exchangeable cams also...
Cut presser and misspress structures
On certain bearded needle tricot machines, the possibility exists of pressing only selected needle beards cut presser work or only pressing beards at selected knitting cycles miss-press work . Cut presser machines are generally in tricot gauges from 12-24 and knit either staple spun yarns or textured yarns for blouses, dress-wear, baby-wear and shawls. The fibre presser blade has sections which are cut away so that needle beards that correspond to these sections are not pressed at that cycle....
Spacer fabrics
A spacer fabric is a double-faced fabric knitted on a double needle bar machine. The distance between the two surfaces is retained after compression by the resilience of the pile yarn usually mono-filament that passes between them. One reason for the development of spacer fabrics was an attempt to replace toxic, laminated-layer foam with a single, synthetic fibre type fabric, thus facilitating future re-cycling Fig. 30.5 . Spacer fabrics are manufactured according to their function and have...
A comparison of latch and compound needles
Compared with the latch needle, the compound needle is more intricate and expensive to manufacture. Each of its two parts must be separately and precisely controlled during knitting. In circular knitting, yarn feeding is very critical because, if the yarn lands on the tongue, it will not enter the open hook, whereas in latch needle knitting the closing latch will flick the yarn into the hook. It is particularly a problem when knitting multiple tucks. Adjustment of a machine setting is therefore...
Rib welts
Most fully-fashioned and stitch-shaped underwear and outerwear garments, halfhose, and socks have ribbed borders containing a welt sequence that is produced by causing the sets of needles to act independently of each other after the 1 x 1 rib setup course. When the rib border is to be knitted in 2 x 2 rib, the needle bed is either shogged to form a skeleton 1 x 1 rib needle arrangement or it is knitted on a normal 1 x 1 rib needle set-out followed by rib loop transfer to achieve 2 x 2 rib for...
Magazine weft insertion
The principle of magazine weft insertion Fig. 27.8 is to supply, for example, 18 or 24 ends of yarn from a stationary creel to an insertion carriage. With a weft insertion speed of 6500m min, the speed of the weft yarn will be only 320m min because multiple wefts are simultaneously being laid onto the conveyor to be fed individually to the knitting machine. The carriage traverses across the back of the machine, laying the weft yarns in parallel form onto the receiving pins of two magazine...
Typical structures knitted on flat machines
Cardigan stitches are two-course repeat tuck rib knitwear structures, widely used in the body sections of heavy-weight stitch-shaped sweaters. The tuck stitches cause the rib wales to gape apart so that the body width spreads outwards to a greater extent than the rib border. The tuck loops increase the fabric thickness and make it heavier in weight and bulkier in handle, although the rate of production in rows of loops will be less than for normal 1 x 1 or 2 x 2 rib. The greater the proportion...
Ladderresist structures
The fine smooth filaments in plain knit ladies' hosiery structures make them very susceptible to laddering. It is therefore important to reduce this tendency without impairing either the appearance or the extension and recovery properties of the structure too greatly 2 . Any stitch that reduces the likelihood of one loop being withdrawn through another for example tight knitting , or that spreads the tension knitting on alternate needles , will produce ladder-resist properties from the end...
The development of the straight bar frame
The straight bar frame is, with a number of later improvements and developments, recognisable as a direct descendant of William Lee's hand frame. Credit for the development of the first acceptable power-driven rotary frame is given to Samuel Wise who, in 1769, replaced the foot pedals with a power-driven rotary shaft whose tappets caught against arms and levers to move the working parts. To increase productivity it was necessary to simplify the knitting action and introduce automatic mechanisms...
Knitting action of the plain straight bar frame
Figure 17.2 shows the cross-section of the knitting head containing the following elements A Bearded needle, having a cranked end for location in the tricked and drilled needle bar. B Sinker - only one between every other needle space - with a reinforced back and, at the front, a 'catch' to sink the yarn around the needles, and a 'neb' to separate the old and new loops until knock-over. C Divider, occupying each remaining space, usually having the same shaped front as the sinker but with an...
The invention of the stocking hand frame
'The Reverend' William Lee 'of Calverton in Nottinghamshire' is generally credited with inventing the stocking hand frame in 1589. 'The advance it represented, by mechanising complex hand movements at a single stroke, was 150-200 years in advance of its time.' 5 The concept of its operation was so brilliant that, through an evolutionary process of technical refinement, modification and innovation by many inventors throughout the world over the succeeding centuries, it laid the foundations for...
The direction of lapping at successive courses
When using either open or closed laps there are three possible arrangements of lapping at successive courses, which may be used alone or in combination 1 The pillar stitch. In the pillar or chain stitch, the same guide always overlaps the same needle. This lapping movement will produce chains of loops in uncon nected wales, which must be connected together by the underlaps of a second guide bar. Generally, pillar stitches are made by front guide bars, either to produce vertical stripe effects...
Rules governing two guide bar structures
1 As the guides swing through the needles to start their next overlap, the back guide bar is first to lay its underlap on the technical back Fig. 25.2 and the front bar is the last, so its underlaps lie on top on the back of the fabric Fig. 25.3 . 2 The front bar thread is the first to strike the needle on the return swing after the overlap Fig. 25.4 and as its bar swings furthest to the front of the machine, it tends to occupy a lower position on the needle. If this position is retained it...
The versatility of Vbed power flat knitting
As the facilities of the mechanically-controlled V-bed flat machine improved, its patterning versatility became such that it could not be equalled It was able to knit rib or plain garment panels in jacquard, racked stitches, rib loop transfer, links-links, cable stitch, needle-out, and relief designs. Jacquard steels provided individual needle selection across the whole needle bed with the possibility of selection on the back as well as on the front needle bed . However, in cut-and-sew knitwear...
Friction and frictionless needles
There are two types of latch needle - friction and frictionless. Friction needles have a slight flex, crimp or bend in the tails so that they contact the side-walls of the tricks in which they are housed. They are used in open-cam systems, where cams may be introduced or taken out of action to divert the needle path. Frictionless needles are employed in closed cam-tracks that have guard or safety cams on the opposite side to the knitting cams to produce a completely enclosed track, through...
The WholeGarment knitting technique
Shima Seiki launched their patented WholeGarment technique at ITMA'95 with two different V-bed models, each having unique features. These involve integrally and seamlessly knitting a complete tubular garment on a V-bed rib machine. A new feature of this technique is the ability to knit tubular rib with a high wale density and therefore improved extensibility and appearance. WholeGarment knitting removes or reduces the need for subsequent making-up and in some cases cutting operations,...
The front of rectilinear needle bar machines
All rectilinear needle bar machines have a front and a back. The front of the machine is the side to which the fabric is drawn away, removed and inspected during knitting. If the machine has a single vertical needle bar, its hooks will face towards the back. If the machine has two vertical needle bars, the fabric will be drawn down between them and will then pass underneath one needle bar the front bar and will be removed from that side of the machine. On warp knitting machines, the guide bars...
Queenscord
Queenscord has even greater rigidity than sharkskin. Because the front guide bar makes the shortest possible underlap, the pillar stitch tightly ties-in the back bar underlaps giving the fabric a shrinkage of only 1-6 per cent. The pillar stitch yarn as it passes up the wale tends to give a slight cord effect and the underlaps of the pillar are unable to balance the underlaps of the back bar so they show inclined overlap stitches Fig. 25.7 . Fig. 25.7 Technical back of queenscord fabric. Fig....
Integral garment knitting
An integral garment is one whose various parts have been knitted and knit-assembled by the knitting machine. It thus requires minimal make-up attention on leaving the knitting machine. Integral garment knitting lowers make-up costs including cutting , shortens throughput times, reduces work in progress and provides the opportunity to introduce new styling features. The knitting machines, however, are more complex and expensive and may be more restrictive in their operation and patterning scope....
Geotextiles
Geotextiles are polymer fabrics used in the construction of roads, drains, harbour works, and breakwaters, and for land reclamation and many other civil engineering purposes Fig. 30.2 . The geotextiles market requires bulk quantities of material. Warp-knitted weft-insertion geotextiles offer the following advantages when compared to woven geotextiles 1 Strength-for-strength, they are lighter than woven geotextiles using the same yarn. This makes for easier handling and laying on site thus...
Fullwidth weft insertion
When the needles are in the lowered position during the warp knitting cycle, a so-called 'open shed' effect is created at the back of the machine. It is then possible for a weft yarn, laid across the full width of the machine, to be carried forward by special weft insertion bits over the needle heads and deposited on top of the overlaps on the needles and against the yarn passing down to them from the guide bars. In this way, the inserted weft will become trapped between the overlaps and...
The history and development of the latch needle
Fact and fiction envelopes the invention of the latch needle in a similar manner to that of the bearded needle. Pierre Jeandeau patented the first latch needle also known as the tumbler needle in 1806 but there is no evidence of its practical use 1,2 . There is also no evidence that the pivoting of a broken pocket knife blade led to the development of the latch spoon. However, it was Townsend and Moulden's practical patents applying the use of this self-acting needle that, in 1849, began the...
The bipartite compound needle
Compound needles Fig. 3.5 consist of two separately-controlled parts - the open hook and the sliding closing element tongue, latch, piston, plunger . The two parts rise and fall as a single unit but, at the top of the rise, the hook moves faster to open the hook and at the start of the fall the hook descends faster to close the hook. It is easier to drive the hooks and tongues collectively from two separate bars in warp knitting than to move each hook and tongue individually, as in weft...
The simplex machine
The simplex machine knits fine-gauge, high-quality, specialist double-faced fabrics at rather low rates of production. It was originally designed to knit simplex fabric in order to replace duplex glove fabric, which was composed of two single-faced fabrics stuck together back-to-back. It has two guide bars, which overlap and under-lap each needle bar to knit plain types of fabric and simple mesh designs on standard lapping movements, usually controlled from pattern wheels. The gauge range is...
Yarn carrier arrangement
The yarn carriers are arranged to slide on both sides of double prismatic guiding bars and there are usually six or seven carriers operating on two or three double bars. When two carriers operate on the same track of the same bar, it is essential to arrange the sequence so that if the two carriers are deposited on the same side, the one nearest to the cam-carriage will be the one first required to traverse back in the opposite direction. There are two methods of entraining carriers with cam...
Simple handmanipulated Vbed rib flat machines
Figure 18.1 shows a cross-section of a simple hand-powered and manipulated V-bed rib flat machine. The trick walls are replaced at the needle bed verges by fixed, thinner, polished and specially shaped knock-over bit edges. In rib gating, a knockover bit in one bed will be aligned opposite to a needle trick in the other bed. During knitting, the edges of the knock-over bits restrain the sinker loops as they pass between the needles and thus assist in the knocking-over of the old loops and in...